For an aficionado of vintage warbirds, there are few sights so stirring as a P-51 Mustang fighter plane climbing into the sky – but Saturday morning, you could see that and much more at the Naples Municipal Airport.

At the Lorenzo Walker Technical College’s 7th Annual Fly-In/Cruise-In and Pancake Breakfast, the biggest problem the crowd of about 2,000 visitors had was deciding which way to look. Along with historic military aircraft, experimental planes, a Collier County EMS helicopter and another from London Aviation, along with corporate jets and other airplanes, over 200 antique and high-performance cars were lined up on display.

There were also pancakes. Admission to the event included breakfast, which along with pancakes and syrup included sausages, coffee and orange juice – and many people made breakfast their first stop. Pancakes were made by “celebrity flippers,” notables in the community who volunteered to come out and play short-order cook.

Former NFL football players David Jones and Ikaika “Ike” Francis shared a griddle, as well as keeping up a stream of trash talk directed at each other’s cooking ability. Dozens of volunteers from Lorenzo Walker, serving as traffic guides and kitchen help, also had the chance to take a break and get some breakfast.

Spectators gathered around the Ukranian-built Aeroprakt 22, prominently labeled “Experimental,” a two-seater that salesman Dennis Long said is just the thing for an economical way to get yourself into the air and flying. With a tiny cockpit, but STOL or “short takeoff and landing” performance and 110-mph cruising capability, Long said you could own one “fully loaded” for $92,500.

The Robinson R66 helicopter shown off by London Aviation chief pilot Joe Fragione had a price tag more like a million dollars, he said, but takes off straight up, and is available for hire. The stars of the “air war,” though, were the vintage World War II warplanes.

Once scrapped by the thousands, and now among only a handful in existence, the B-17 Flying Fortress and the B-24 Liberator bombers sat next to each other, close by the P-51 which used to provide their fighter escort on missions over enemy territory.

Some of the students working the event take a break to eat some breakfast. Lorenzo Walker Technical College hosted their 7th annual Fly-in Cruise-In Pancake Breakfast Saturday at the Naples Municipal Airport. Lance Shearer/Special to the Naples Daily News

The 1939 Ford Deluxe was the last to come with a rumble seat. Lorenzo Walker Technical College hosted their 7th annual Fly-in Cruise-In Pancake Breakfast Saturday at the Naples Municipal Airport. Lance Shearer/Special to the Naples Daily News

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Families lined up to shuffle through what used to be some of the largest and most fearsome war machines in the world, although modern jets make them look small and primitive. Ed Bueno and Andrew Hill, both seniors in Lorenzo Walker’s aviation program, enthusiastically grabbed hold of the .50 caliber machine guns in the B-24’s waist gun position.

Before those bombers were built, the 1939 Ford Deluxe exhibited by Anthony Pisano was on the road. He still drives it all the time, he said, including coming from California to Naples by way of Connecticut.

“This was the last year they had the rumble seat,” he said, displaying the early equivalent of the modern third seat seen in many SUVs.

“This is a great event to help introduce Lorenzo Walker to the community, and all the proceeds go to student scholarships,” said LWTC director Yolanda Flores. “We couldn’t have done it without all the volunteers helping out.”

Organizations bringing vehicles out to the Fly-In/Cruise-In included the Cool Cruisers, the Corvette Club (who had a massive contingent), the Ferrari Club of America, the Mercedes-Benz Club of America, the Naples-Marco branch of the Antique Automobile Club of America, and the West Coast Muscle Car Club.